BWW Recap: THE VAMPIRE DIARIES Releases a 'Bird in a Gilded Cage'

It's Spring Break! Which means our favorite characters of THE VAMPIRE DIARIES were off to celebrate and get wild in paradise aka the empty dormitories of Whitmore College and a frozen 1903 prison world. This week's episode, entitled "Bird in a Gilded Cage," reunited mother and son, brought a relationship to the bloody next level, and reintroduced a McGuffin we had all wished to forget about.

Although no humanity Caroline had been seconds away from killing Sarah, she was still just as mindful as ever, making sure Whitmore's only bar reverted back to the way she found it.

Stefan returned to the House of Hunks minus his own humanity to pick up some weapons and Damon tried to unsuccessfully inoculate him; Damon was furious as it meant Stefan was one step closer to ripper status. In a fit of rage, Damon began destroying the house and revealed to Elena that his mother was stuck in a prison world. Elena was elated, believing their mother could help bring Stefan's humanity back, but Damon wasn't so thrilled.

At the hospital, Jo had returned to treat a compelled and injured Sarah and Alaric and her contemplated the name of their unborn child.

Although their last interaction had ended with Damon in immense pain, he still appealed to Bonnie to help take them to the 1903 prison world. She reluctantly agreed and grabbed some lunch with Kai to ask for the Ascendant, which Kai had just happened to have on his person. Although Bonnie had expressed she would rather die of cholera than spend the day with Kai, he made a compelling argument.

Caroline had insisted on staying in college and living the most normal life possible, including auditioning for the school's musical and singing songs from THE LAST FIVE YEARS. Except, Stefan wasn't so pleased with her choice of activity and ripped the drama director's head straight off. Since Caroline forced him to switch off his humanity he was going to undo Caroline one drop of blood at a time.

Bonnie, Kai, Damon, and an eager Elena put on their warmest and most stylish coats and transported themselves into the 1903 prison. While Damon and Elena went off to find Lily, Kai and Bonnie were tasked with finding the prison world's Ascendant to be able to return to the present.

While Caroline dismantled Stefan's motorcycle and stuffed the director in a furnace, Jo and Alaric were still arguing over baby names. Enzo stopped by to ask for Alaric's help in subduing Caroline and Stefan and he agreed to partake in the action.

Elena was overly excited to be in the house Damon and Stefan grew up in and Damon was adamant that the woman he knew as his mother had died in 1858. Damon didn't have time to process what he would say when he saw his mother as Lily entered the house, right before his eyes. She made Damon and Elena tea and explained that a nurse in the TB ward had fed her vampire blood in 1858 and she had fled to Europe, thus beginning her binge. Though she had the urge to murder, being kept in the prison world had grounded her.

Kai and Bonnie were looking for the Ascendant when Kai complimented Bonnie on her palms and tried to apologize again. She refused to listen, though, and grabbed Bonnie's hand, injuring her. He quickly felt remorse, but Bonnie knew that even if he had changed the original Kai was still there inside him.

Lily had agreed to travel with the gang back to the present to help Stefan when she revealed that she wasn't alone in her world. She had been imprisoned with a group of other vampires she called her "traveling companions." She claimed her friends had made her feel human again, but Damon was creeped out by her vampire dollhouse.

Although the Ascendant had been with Lily, Bonnie had lured Kai out to the woods to kill him. Kai pleaded with her and tried to get her to believe that he had changed, but so had Bonnie and she wasn't going to let him get away with the atrocities he had committed. She raised her knife to kill him when he suddenly disappeared.

Stefan had decided to get violent with Caroline since she wouldn't completely let go, and Alaric and Enzo tried to hunt down the two in the dormitories. Stefan was seconds away from killing the "B Team" when Caroline raised a shotgun to him, threatening his next move. Stefan decided to tempt her with some co-ed blood, which apparently turned out to be a real aphrodisiac as the two replaced blood sucking with mouth noises.

Damon had insisted Lily leave her desiccated friends in the prison world, but she refused to leave without them, calling them her "family." Damon was visibly hurt and convinced her that Stefan was his and if she refused to leave her friends then he would leave her in the prison world to rot. Lily agreed and Bonnie began the spell to return home, leaving Kai at the last minute in 1903.

Enzo popped by the hospital to apologize to Sarah for all the games he had been playing. He was ready to leave her alone when he referred to her as a Salvatore, piquing her interest.

Lily sat in awe in front of Damon's computer and confessed that she had been to see them right after she turned, the "angel" Stefan had seen. He promised her they would retrieve her friends soon enough. At the same time, Kai was exploring 1903 when he stumbled upon Lily's friends, one of the vampires finding strength to grab him.

While Caroline enjoyed her time with Stefan, agreeing that it was fun to let it all go, Elena and Damon were also enjoying some steamy moments when Bonnie interrupted. Elena decided to go check on Alaric and Damon and Bonnie secretly agreed to never return to 1903 prison for Kai or any of Lily's friends. Bonnie also surprised Damon with a gift from 1994 Nova Scotia: the cure. Her mother was happily living as a vampire and Caroline was a much better character as a vampire, which only left Elena since none of the older vampires could successfully ingest the cure. Damon contemplated for a moment that maybe it wasn't what he wanted for Elena anymore and Bonnie agreed that it was none of her business what he decided to do with it.

Things we need to discuss:

- The only person willing and able to take the cure would be Elena since she wouldn't have to worry about ageing like Katherine. There's not much at stake except for a moral and internal dilemma on whether Damon will even present it to her.

- Although Elena was happy to have Lily back, I am on Damon's side; cautious of Lily and suspicious of her creepy dollhouse of vampire friends.

- Is it wrong to feel bad for Kai? Yes, but I do and we should all make therapy appointments to reconcile these feelings.

- It was great to see a little character development from Enzo. He has been on a mission for so long that we still don't know whom he is, where he comes from, and what his past before being imprisoned was like. It will be interesting for them to explore his character more since he obviously is harboring demons that go much deeper than hating Stefan.

- Still not over Caroline singing "Still Hurting" from THE LAST FIVE YEARS.

How are Matt and Tyler doing with their police applications? Do you trust Lily? What should Jo and Alaric name their baby? Will Elena take the cure or will Damon hide it in his soap dish? Comment below or tweet me @enr702 or find me live-tweeting the episodes @erinrlivetweets.

Below, watch a promo for April 16th's all-new episode "I Never Could Love Like That":

Photo Credit: The CW

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